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Updated: May 15, 2026

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
Published on: October 29, 2018
Effect of flanking sounds on the auditory continuity illusion
Maori Kobayashi1, Makio Kashino
1Department of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. te11001@meiji.ac.jp
Background:
The auditory continuity illusion or the perceptual restoration of a target sound briefly interrupted by an extraneous sound has been shown to depend on masking. However, little is known about factors other than masking.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
We examined whether a sequence of flanking transient sounds affects the apparent continuity of a target tone alternated with a bandpass noise at regular intervals. The flanking sounds significantly increased the limit of perceiving apparent continuity in terms of the maximum target level at a fixed noise level, irrespective of the frequency separation between the target and flanking sounds: the flanking sounds enhanced the continuity illusion. This effect was dependent on the temporal relationship between the flanking sounds and noise bursts.
Conclusions/Significance:
The spectrotemporal characteristics of the enhancement effect suggest that a mechanism to compensate for exogenous attentional distraction may contribute to the continuity illusion.
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